Posts I've Made

<shrug> Elitists are gonna be elitist. @OP : Join a pro PvE guild, have a Coke, a smile and [REDACTED]. You can always transfer somewhere where such guilds exist. Problem solved, give me a tough one.

As for PUG groups they are simply an excersise in patience. You don't know what you are gonna get. You may get a total noobie, you may get a guy sporting 6 legendaries and never misses a dodge. Requirements may screen out some folks, but how many people do you know that say they are better than they really are?

Yep.

I don't PUG a lot, but when I do I try to be a good team player. If it's a good group and everything is smooth maybe we'll do another path. If it feels like a pack of baddies. You man up, slog through as best you can, and politely leave. If you are just plain abrasive my rule is to block that player hoping they get bored with their self proclaimed pro-ness and uninstall.

This whole thing reminds me of the mountain of threads that go round and round in the PvE section about gearcheck, dps, etc, etc. So it's this old chestnut again.

With a PUG my only wish is simple: Know how your character works. If you don't know or need a refresher, SAY something. That with a little patience will get you farther than any speedclear.

It's about what works in your style and results. Don't let try hards determine {YOUR} style. Because it won't be native. And you will quit the game trust me. What I suggest is look at the highest dps build you can find. And morph it to your will not anyone elses. And you find more happiness that way. Rather then copying what someone else says. Use this guides build in question test it alter it. If you can't make it work move on.

Majority of the community does that. Only a very small fraction of the community swears full dps or else your bad is the only way to go. Everyone just ignores the rude ego's like they don't exist, and does what they want anyway. Trust your judgement and eyes. Usually if it looks fail and it doesn't work for you. Most likely either you don't know how to use it. Or it is actually not worth using. But I suggest not just listening to any one source. Try everything and feel things out. Then come to a decision based off of yourself and game play. Like I said if you don't feel or identify with a build. You will just quit on the class or even the game.

Pretty much this.

Once I got my head wrapped around my playstyle and became comfortable with it, THEN I started playing around with different builds / loadouts. I run primarily with guildies and they are aware of my build and quirks. Sometimes I'll bounce ideas around with them on a build. Sometimes there are multiple options and you have to weigh the pros and cons. If a build isn't doing what you want it to, you as a player will know it. Choosing to go by your gut over what a spreadsheet says is no less wrong. I view it as a theory v/s practice debate at that point.

So when I look at the glass cannon mindset I tilt my head, shrug and go, "meh. not for me." .
There's ideas presented that have value, but I tire of the " I'm right because I say so " crowd on this site.

Hex.
[ Believes that rushing to the next thing is just a way to get bored faster. ]

Yeah, this build (or more accurately the derivative that I made up of this build) saved playing the warrior for me. I dislike most of the warrior weapons. But hammer and 1h sword were the most comfortable for me when I was leveling and mapping. My hope is I can work up some trait set that will salvage my ability to keep using hammer on my character. Since I'm not a min-maxer, I'm not as concerned about the damage output loss compared to certain folks. Still, that could be a problem in the grand scheme of things.

Let's face it, the only thing more satisfying than Earthshaker-ing a blob of enemies is a golf swing Banish from a guardian.

Well, I can speak from the experience of running a very similar build for a good while is it's serviceable, and is a good starting point. I'm sure the usual suspects will tell you it's bad. <glare> Let your guildie experiment and decide for himself. You can make it more support oriented if you take 10 out of valor (altruistic can help heal you for a shout build but you just don't get that much healing from it.)

You can either put another 5 into Radiance and 5 into Virtues and spam F1 a lot which gives might and can blind nearby enemies. Option 2 is to put 10 into virtues and go with Unscathed contender or Master of consecrations. Also, have your guildie play with wall of reflection and Sanctuary. Both are incredibly handy defense skills for certain encounters.

While the concept is considered taboo on these forums, do not rule out some Soldier's gear as a viable option for a guardian. You may sacrifice critical damage, but your base damage against hard targets will stay the same. Sure it's a damage output hit to soft targets. I'll tell you now, if you fall over because you miss a dodge, your damage output is zero. If someone stops to pick you up your group's damage output has dropped to 3/5 of what it was.

Also if he/she decides to go WvWing with full berzerkers it is a good way to die a horrible death very often and is not recommended.